By IANS
Jammu : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday paid rich tributes to Jammu’s tradition of “pluralism” and the region’s efforts to maintain peace and tolerance in difficult times.
Manmohan Singh said the city of Jammu is believed to have been founded when legendry king Raja Jambhu Lochan, while on a hunting expedition, discovered a tiger and a goat drinking water from the same tank.
“When he sought an explanation, his aides are believed to have said that the ‘soil of the place excelled in virtue and for that reason no living creature bore enmity against another’. It is this remarkable tradition of pluralism that all of you have inherited, and which sustains itself even today,” Manmohan Singh said at a function at Jammu University, where he was conferred with a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) degree.
The prime minister praised the region for welcoming thousands of migrants, refugees and displaced people with open arms. “These include the large number of Kashmiri Pandits, but also refugees from POK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) and Pakistan.”
He said his government was committed to proper rehabilitation of migrants and their equal rights. “I salute the people of Jammu for maintaining a culture of peace and tolerance during difficult times,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor S.K. Sinha, also the chancellor of the university, conferred the doctorate degree on Manmohan Singh – the first by an Indian university after he became prime minister in May 2004.